Most teams will vie for second place in league play behind
RLS
When your team finishes 17 shots behind the winner of a 9-hole
tournament, it’s usually not reason to celebrate.
Most teams will vie for second place in league play behind RLS
When your team finishes 17 shots behind the winner of a 9-hole tournament, it’s usually not reason to celebrate. But when the winning team is arguably the No. 1 high school squad in the nation and your team actually was just four shots out of second place it sheds a whole new light on things.
That was the scenario for the San Benito High School girls’ golf team in the Sept. 10 11-team Tri County Athletic League jamboree tournament, which took place at Ridgemark Golf Course.
The Lady Balers posted a five-player team total of 184, just two shots behind third-place finisher Salinas and four strokes back of defending league champion Santa Catalina. The season-opening tournament was won by Robert Louis Stevenson, which posted clinic-like team total of 167 without having the school’s top three players there.
“It’s just unbelievable the talent they got down there,” said Baler coach Chris Branon, of the private school in the Del Monte Forest that’s known for its storied golf program. “Two of their girls couldn’t compete because they were competing in the amateur version of the LPGA Tour’s Solheim Cup event. Even without them they had two girls that shot a 39 today. When you watch RLS play, you’re basically watching Division I (NCAA) golf. And when you’re watching their top two players, you’re watching LPGA golf, no doubt about it.”
Although no team in the league has close to the talent level of RLS this year and the real battle will be for second place each week, Branon tells his team they should feel lucky to be in such a predicament.
“I tell my players all the time that they have the opportunity to play against some girls that they could potentially be watching one day on TV,” he said. “This just shows how strong our league is.”
Leading the way for the Balers on Monday afternoon was senior Marissa Gutierrez, who carded a 40 on the challenging course. Three more seniors followed suit. Amanda Frey came in second with a 45, Katie O’Brien was next with a 47 and the last Baler to post a score that was counted in the team totals was Jordan Archer, who shot a 52.
“We look pretty good this year,” said O’Brien as she waited to tee off on the fourth hole. “We have a lot of potential. It’s really exciting.”
At Tuesday’s practice Branon had his team focusing mostly on its short game.
“We’re right there [near top of league.] We followed up yesterday’s event with chipping and putting,” he said. “Chipping and putting was the difference between finishing in fourth or second.”
The individual medalist on Monday was Pacific Grove sophomore Haley Andreas. She carded a 2-under-par 34 over the nine holes – which had the teams playing holes 2 through 10 on Monday.
